The new boss of Rochdale children’s services has backed calls for stronger jail terms in grooming cases.

The new boss of Rochdale children’s services has backed calls for stronger jail terms in grooming cases. Gladys Rhodes White says sex attackers impose ‘lifetime sentences’ on their victims – and in turn need lengthy spells in prison to think about what they have done.

Mrs Rhodes White – who took the helm at the council’s children’s directorate in the wake of the town’s grooming scandal – was responding to new proposals for stronger rape sentences.

The Sentencing Council says judges must consider the impact on victims ‘central’ to any sentencing decision they take.

It says the rise of child sexual exploitation – among other types of sex crime – has meant current sentences needed a re-think.

Mrs Rhodes White, who oversaw a successful child grooming crackdown in Blackburn and Darwen before joining Rochdale council last month, said such abuse often left victims unable to form relationships in later life, and in some cases led to suicide.

She said: “Historically, some of the sentences haven’t reflected the long-term psychological impact on the victims of this crime. These perpetrators are inflicting a lifetime sentence on some of our young people.

“The longer they are locked up the longer they have to think about that.”

Nine men were jailed in May for grooming young girls in Rochdale over a number of years. GMP are investigating at least six other child sex gangs across the region.

The Sentencing Council – which issues guidelines to the country’s judges – said the experience of victims in such case must be paramount.

Council member Lord Justice Treacy said: “We’re improving guidance for courts to help them deal with these incredibly sensitive and serious offences.”

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